The I's and Observation

An Enlightened Conversation 

Between Students

 Fellow travelers on the path of awakening serve each other

through the process of emptying their cups.  This then makes 

more space for nameless the draw near, enter, and lift the soul.

P:
I am continuing to verify that the I's aren't real.  Sometimes my centre of gravity and a few features combine together and attaches themselves to a thought.  It feels so powerful … so real … yet somehow when I'm able to come into the moment …the “I” disappears.

A:
Thanks, a very good and necessary observation about oneself.  It is important to question the 'I's and their origin.  For to identify what part of oneself is speaking then one becomes a passerby of oneself, realizing that “I guess my thoughts are not so important after all.  They are not going to bring much change overall.”

P:
Mervyn once had a cute little drawing of himself with a caption of him saying, "The I's aren't real, therefore I am".

A:
Yes, this is it.  One has to gradually begin to comprehend this life and has to pass through "LARGE" I's ... into eternally waiting souls, for only their perception is real and valuable to oneself and to ones relationship with the Higher.

Here I have an angle on this … I am learning from every moment that looking with these eyes that they want at all times to possess the whole sky.  This is what the soul wants … to look into something in relation to the whole not just from the duality of the machine versus the stimuli … but rather from the view of a triad.

P:
When I'm in this higher state I want to experience as many aspects of each moment as I can; sight, sound, taste, touch, smell … and even to observe the space between things!  I'm open to others without fear or judgment!  I can experience the miracle of creation!

Online Meeting - July 19, 2000

C:

Part of our suffering is to see sleep on a larger scale. As Mervyn once said, " there is no justice, there just is"                             

                                                                             

Mervyn:

Too much preoccupation with the past and ones suffering can be the last refuge for vanity. It is basically an indulgence and often an account which has to be destroyed for the healing process to begin it’s work. Whereas, to regenerate ourselves requires the process of regeneration. Often we mix up pain in the emotional center; whose job it is to heal it. Two different processes often mistaken for each other.                                                               

                                                                             

H:

Could you clarify the last bit, about mixing up the healing and regeneration process?                                         

                                                                             

Mervyn:

The regeneration process requires a triad to be in place. There must be denying force in any triad. One cannot complain or moan about the type of denying force that has been given. The fact is; it is there and thank God for it. The next step is to regenerate the denying force or it will degenerate you. These laws are simple and not to be taken personally, whatever friction and regrets you are referring to.                                                                

                                                                             

H:

Could you talk about regeneration, are you referring to the anger and identification as being the denying force?                                                               

                                                                             

Mervyn:

Yes.  Regeneration is an internal process, healing is an external process. Meaning not of the inner-world. To regenerate, I used to say to S years ago, "that one would have to eat mountains of s#@*" Jesus put it more eloquently, " love your enemy". By that he meant denying force or ones friction, or ones enemies. This is ESSENTIAL, to the triad of regeneration. Therefore, one must love and appreciate it; it is the stuff the triad needs.   The delicacy of the excuse is not taken into account, you do it or you fail.                                                           

                                                                              

H:

There seems to be a subtle problem with my machine in buffering or denying the friction in order not to feel it; and really letting go. Perhaps, it seems too easy to let it go. Perhaps, I am speaking too soon and have not struggled with it enough.                                                              

                                                                             

Mervyn:

The idea is not to let the friction go, but to regenerate it. Why would one want to get rid of such a gift? Regarding not feeling it, it seems your machine wants to remain in the negative part of the regeneration process. You simply must work with it and get on. This is the rock you could fall on. Who and what we are and how and why we become that, is all part and parcel of this thing called life. If one wants to join the regeneration stakes, the whole ball game changes. For healing, go to a Doctor or a counselor. To awaken, come to God. Learn the new rules or one will perish, like the rose that bloomed in your garden today. That is the, "Terror of the situation" if you fail you fail, no excuses. If you win, that is another discussion.                     

Online Meeting June 7, 2000

 

Online Meeting June 7, 2000

Mervyn:

Why do people take themselves so seriously when they have verified that the “I's” are not real?

Ms. A:

I appreciate what you say as I think it is in my understanding the past, I will find a truth, that I have to understand something but also see the I's are not real and accidental really.

Mervyn:

The truth is not to be found in the past but NOW. The past is really only useful to indicate to us how wrong we did everything. It is at best a reference of our impotency in the face of life. Of course this impotency still exists even when one awakens but what replaces it is a realistic appraisal of what is possible and what is not.

Today K and I saw a cute baby in a stroller. K pointed out how lovely it was and how it was just there. I pointed out that some people think the Work is to get back there. It is not. We have to get back to our inner worlds and still live fully functioning in this one.

Ms. A:

Perhaps I am looking for the I's that put me to sleep. There are some that are so strong we cannot see them and in seeing them in the past perhaps I can see where I lie etc. now

Mervyn:

It is far more valuable to study why one is awakening instead of studying why one went asleep. Especially when one has verified that one had to ----Awakening is a far greater miracle than sleeping. Modern psychology is obsessed with the past. The Work is NOW, yes, this very moment.

Mervyn:

C, do you ever experience ecstasy in your inner world?

Mrs. C:

Yes.

Mervyn:

You sound very definite, is that from your personal efforts and experiences in life or a mixture of both?

Mrs. C:

Sometimes I can be experiencing ecstasy and my husband could be right beside me and he wouldn't know. I have to validate my inner world for myself and then move on and keep feeding my soul. If I tried to explain my experience to life, people would think I was mad.

Mervyn:

Why do we keep doing the Work?

Mrs. C:

There has to be a deep desire in you to work on yourself, not just a nice idea but a yearning deep down pushing us on.

Mervyn:

What do you think that is?

Mrs. C:

My soul, my conscience, I can see the duality of life and the work keeps growing stronger inside me.

Mr. B:

Maybe we are all like eggs, the bird growing inside eventually feels it is time to escape.

Mervyn:

Maybe these feelings are birth pangs reminding us constantly something is being born. You are my friends and stop me from slipping back to sleep and you are always teaching me and reminding me not to slip away to sleep. In return I will not let you slip. It is like being in charge of children, how could one deny such innocence?

St. Theresa de Avila

"I saw an angel very near me, towards my left side, in bodily form, which is not usual with me; for though angels are often represented to me, it is only in my mental vision. This angel appeared rather small than large, and very beautiful. His face was so shining that he seemed to be one of those highest angels called seraphs, who look as if all on fire with divine love. He had in his hands a long golden dart; at the end of the point methought there was a little fire. And I felt him thrust it several times through my heart in such a way that it passed through my very bowels. And when he drew it out, methought it pulled them out with it and left me wholly on fire with a great love of God." The pain in her soul spread to her body, but it was accompanied by great delight too; she was like one transported, caring neither to see nor to speak but only to be consumed with the mingled pain and happiness." 
~ St. Theresa of Avila

We each have an Angel to guide us, 

each morning we wake up and each evening 

we lay our heads down to sleep 

let us thank this incredible being and continue to ask for their 

divine assistance in everything we do.

C 

The Sense of Sight

Annie Louisa Swynnerton, The Sense of Sight,  

1895, Oil on canvas, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, England

Dear All, 

  We can learn things,

We “Hear” them externally,

And then we “Hear” them internally.

We can know things, 

but oh that beautiful moment when

understanding enlightens us and we can finally “See.”

There is a Dawning illustrated by the Sun coming up in the background.

Seeing this expression on a Student’s face is my currency.

It is this moment when the Teacher and the Student or

God and Man become one.

Love,

Mervyn

 

Listen to My Sweet Pipings...

Listening to My Sweet Pipings by Waterhouse

Dear All,

"Onto thine own self be true." These wise words have grounded many a well-meaning person. It would be folly to trust your own thoughts or "Pipings"  without having a sound knowledge of which part of you they are coming from.  The Mind often masquerades as the Soul.    This is why we need to learn this wonderful system and then use it. 

Love,  Mervyn

Meher Baba

  How to Love God

 

To love God in the most practical way is to love our fellow beings.  If we feel for others in the same way as we feel for our own dear ones, we love God.

 

     If, instead of seeing faults in others, we look within ourselves, we are loving God.

 

     If, instead of robbing others to help ourselves, we rob ourselves to help others, we are loving God.

 

     If we suffer in the sufferings of others and feel happy in the happiness of others, we are loving God.

 

     If, instead of worrying over our own misfortunes, we think ourselves more fortunate than many, many others, we are loving God.

   

If we endure our lot with patience and contentment,

accepting it as His Will, we are loving God.

 

     If we understand and feel that the greatest act of devotion and worship to God is not to hurt or harm any of His beings, we are loving God.

Men and women with awakened souls have walked through this earth for centuries. Their great gifts have changed the life of many. During the year of 1916, Rainer Maria Rilke  walked through the streets of Vienna. It is said he would meet almost daily with a painter, writer and an architect at the Café Imperial, all friends of his, Oskar Kokoschka, Karl Kraus and Adolf Loos... 

.

...In the letters to a young poet, he reminds us: 

"...You are looking outside, and that is what you should most avoid right now. No one can advise or help you - no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself...."

"....A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity...."

"....I can't give you any advice but this: to go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows....."

If we asked ourselves, how deep is the place from which my life flows, there would not be a right or a wrong answer to this question; but simply the reminder that we could see beauty if we had found it within our-selves. We can love if we have experienced love within our-selves.

Learning how to live is a work of art that springs into life perhaps out of the necessity to find a greater meaning. By enriching our life with impressions of beauty many questions can be answered. We will then find stories to be told everywhere; Stories that have a meaning in our lives and make us remember its beauty.

Grateful,

D

Let Go...You Will Not Fall

As the sound of the crash of each wave signals its death,  listen to souls 

being released home as the wave returns to the sea. 

The sound of impermanence; Like death's pulse and heartbeat.

We are terrified of letting go, terrified of living; 

since learning to live is learning to let go.

Let go.  

Let go. 

Let go, or you will hurt.

Do not grasp at the ungraspable.

Let go, 

you will not fall.

~MB 

academyofeuropeanarts.com 

The Love between two people 

is an exact mirror image of the Mystical Union 

between the Soul and God.

When we encounter a great Love in our life, 

we taste what union with God is like.

 

-MB

The Light of the World….

The Light of the World

Lately, I have been asking myself in moments of great inner silence, what is The Light…. Like that, with capital letters…. I know it is not the light my body’s eyes can perceive, yet that kind of light has a close enough resemblance to share the same name…..

Since it has nothing to do with the physical sight, it probably has something to do with the sense, the meaning….. it is something one understands…. an understanding:  a Real ‘I’.

Blind people cannot see, and yet they compensate this, by sharpening other senses: the sense of hearing, the sense of smell, the sense of touch…. What does this tell me? What do I need to sharpen if I want to be able to “see”, to know The Light?

I have verified more than once, that forgiveness is an unavoidable prerequisite …. as soon as there is some kind of negativity in me, the slightest friction with someone, or a judgment ‘i’….. darkness begins to cloud my inner world, I lose the Hydrogens that have been so hardly earned, and accumulated, my state plunges, and everything is downhill from that point on….. I am again in the body…. I become the body, I am identified with it…. of course my machine wants me to believe that a liiiiiittle friction is irrelevant:  ‘it doesn’t matter’, but at this point the game is about to be over…. and the stakes are very high, so I better not buy that….. it certainly matters!

As soon as I realize what has happened, (if and when, I do so), I try everything in my power to get rid of that negativity…. When I contemplate the fact that all minds are connected…. Any negative ‘i’ that I have towards anyone, is affecting them…. It is a toxin I am sending out, even if the bodies cannot perceive it….. it is a toxin I am tolerating inside me, and it has effects in both of us….. there are no ‘idle’thoughts…. nor ‘private’thoughts….. all thoughts have effects. One has to let go of any negative element, as fast as possible, so the negativity does not grow, because then it is much harder to let it go…..  my machine is a very clever animal that keeps trying to set new baits for me, to see if I swallow them, hook and all….. only with Higher Help and a lot of prayer, am I able to see myself honestly, and act quickly…. When I have not done that in the past, I have paid a very high price……. And lived to regret it!

Still pondering in the nature of The Light…..  suddenly during the  meeting we had after the students that attended the retreat came back, I had a glimpse of what that Light is:

Three of them were sharing their impressions and I kept feeling the energy in the group growing more and more… all of a sudden while one student was eliminating how she perceived a certain exercise, a moment came when I could no longer hear what she was saying… I could only see her mouth moving…. no sound….. a great silence made itself present inside me…. and in that silence, inside my head, I heard: “The Light of the World”…… I repeated this very slowly to myself…. The Light of the World…… The Light of the World…… I felt a huge pressure inside me…. something growing and growing….. a humming in my ears grew in intensity…… my eyes fell upon Keith, who was sitting across the table in front of me….. I love him so much!..... I felt that love become more and more intense inside me and I realized we are lamps!.... we are all lamps!.. sacred oil lamps!.. yes, like Alladin’s lamp… and sometimes we are Alladin for someone….. you know, because of the friction….

And some other times we are their oil, what they need to keep the flame alive….. to keep shining…

and Mervyn was, and still is our fire, our flame: only a flame can ignite another flame, only a Soul can rekindle a Soul…..

and so we all are The Light of the World….

With deep love and appreciation for each one of you……..LdG

                                                             

Two Great Virtues

In a bamboo forest near the Himalayas lived a parrot, along with many other birds and animals. One day, suddenly a very strong wind blew and made two bamboos rub together which started a forest  fire.

The wind fed the fire and the birds and animals screamed in great confusion looking for an escape. The parrot, partly in gratitude towards the bamboo forest who had sheltered him for so long, and also feeling compassion for the misfortune of so many birds and animals, decide to make as much as possible to save them.

He went to a nearby pool, wet his wings and flying over the fire made water drops fall. He repeated this diligently thinking only in the Gratitude towards the bamboo forest and the Compassion he felt for the desperate ones.

This spirit of compassion and sacrifice moved the gods of heaven. One of them came down and said to him: "Your soul is noble, but, how can you put out so big a fire with the drops of water in your wings?"

To this, the parrot answered: " If I pretended to put it out only with water, certainly I could not do so; but I do it with this feeling of Thankfulness and Compassion. It must be possible. I will keep carrying water once and again, and I will keep doing it also in my next life."

This fable is from the book "The Path of Practice" by Buddha. It might be worth to ask yourself: 

How do I express my thankfulness and compassion towards others?

Dear All,

Here is a painting by William Blake.

When a person begins to work on themselves,

and starts to observe the machine,

they quickly reach this awful point in the Work,

when one realizes, to one’s horror,

that we are beasts.

Here is a moment we all have to go through.

It is the third force to “do” something to change this horror.

The next level is when one realizes that one is not in fact

“The Beast” but what is trapped inside.

It is “Seeing” one’s self.

Love,

M

William Blake, Nebuchadnezzar, Circa 1805,

Print with ink and watercolor, Tate Briton, London

Chicago: Open Forum Discussion : Finding God Inside Us; Where and How Do We Look?

The Chicago Center  of The Academy of European Arts and Culture welcomes you to attend an open forum discussion:

"Finding God Inside Us; Where and How Do We Look?"

What is this "Kingdom of Heaven" inside us?  What does it mean to us on a daily and practical way?  How can we see God in everyone and in everything?  Is this an experience of the mind or an experience of the soul?  How do we try to make our vessel empty so that the divine in us is open to experience creation without all of our personal baggage?

Monday, June 13, 2011, 7:30pm

Bon Bon Sandwiches LLC

2333 West North Avenue Chicago, IL

 

RSVP: 1-866-312-7922 extension #4

There is No Charge for this event.